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Gundam Style

Luckily enough for me everything we had done in Tokyo so far was brand new and exciting. Although Sam didn’t mind having to go back to some places again, we made the conscious decision to venture somewhere he hadn’t been before. So the next day we boarded the metro once again, and headed towards Odaiba, a man made island of Tokyo. In order to reach this peculiar island, you have to board the monorail which travels over Rainbow bridge, which I can only assume was named after Rainbow Road from Mario..maybe. Immediately the infamous Simpson’s episode came to my mind and the song “monorail” was sung many times on that short trip from the mainland. On the way we noticed that the majority of buildings around us were designed with some interesting architecture. A building that was shaped like a giant half pipe was along the pier, where as another building with a giant sphere suspended in the middle was located nearer to the centre. We had no plan of what to do when we got to Odaiba so we ended up following some Japanese people into the first building we came across. It was completely bizarre. This place was akin to an amusement park, if it were all indoors and spread across a few floors. The bottom level was called The Sega Joypolis, a miniature themepark offering rides and games. The next floor was filled with quirky shops selling things like “lucky boxes”; a box wrapped in paper so you know what you are buying, novelty clothing and sweets. Waffles and ice cream stands were also dotted around the floor as well as several arcade games; including several retro games like PacMan and Street fighter. If things couldn’t get more extravagant, the other side of this particular complex housed Lego Land and Madame Tussauds. After looking around for a while and being thoroughly perplexed by what this island was all about, we walked to the next big complex. This place was more like a shopping mall, so we headed for the food court for some lunch. Just outside of the building however, they had erected a gigantic statue of what looked to me like a Transformer. Sam respectfully corrected me in saying that it was in fact a Gundam Mech, from the famous Japanese anime. Google that one if you’re interested in seeing what it looks like! From the robot, I stand corrected, the “Mech”, we walked along a wide promenade lined with beautiful multi-coloured tulips, my favourite being the purple ones, and discovered we were now in a place called Pallet Town. This excited Sam and I greatly since if you have played Pokemon, you would know this is the first town you start from before beginning your quest. We settled on entering the next building which was called MegaWeb, and guessed what would be inside. I imagined something to do with tech, whereas Sam went left field and suggested a giant Spider. We were both completely wrong. We had walked into a retro car museum. I don’t think either of us would have guessed that one! It was pretty cool seeing a DeLorean, Ford Mustang, among others (I genuinely cannot name anymore) but would probably be cooler if you were remotely interested in cars…which I’m not. The museum then led even more randomly into a Toyoto Garage. Although, as the Japanese way, it was no normal garage. It was more like a floor demonstration of cars of the future, displaying cars and motorbikes which were reminiscent of the film Minority Report, with clear doors and windows. You could even sit and drive in a car simulator if you wanted! The best part was that the whole room was surrounded by a race track where kids could ride in tiny model cars. After a perplexing afternoon we headed back to the flat to relax.

One of the many reasons I have fallen in love with this Country is the Japanese people. I have never seen such dedicated, respectful and polite people in my life. A perfect embodiment of these qualities was demonstrated when Sam and I accidently walked into a bistro and left shortly afterwards due to my lack of meat eating. The chef ran after us in a frenzy making sure we were ok. I replied, in Japanese, that I do not eat meat to which he said “ooooh!”, bowed deeply and thanked us for coming. I have witnessed normal citizens going along the streets picking up the smallest of litter off the floor even after nights out, people thank you at every opportunity and many are willing to help you whenever you need it. There are obvious drawbacks to each civilization; their penchant for following the rules and perhaps their limited forgiveness of people who fall out of line, but it still doesn’t nearly detract from the positives in my opinion. We were lucky enough to go to dinner that night with a citizen of Tokyo, called Kerry. I was put in contact with Kerry through my friend Morgan, whose uncle Lee, from America, is a good friend of Kerry’s. It was strange when he asked about how I knew Lee, because in fact I had never met Lee and Kerry had never met Morgan, so Kerry at first didn’t really seem to understand how I got his number! Kerry was a previous resident of New Zealand, but moved to Tokyo 25 years previous, married a Japanese lady and had two children. He was a funny, intelligent guy who ran his own restaurant, so took us to an incredible place in Shibuya for a huge gourmet meal with drinks. We discussed at length the differences between Eastern and Western culture including the people, and gave us an enlightening insight into what it would be like to live in Tokyo. A bonus to whole evening was the fact that he paid for it all! In hindsight, I should have asked for more Sake…

Then it came, the end of our 8 day stretch in Tokyo and that meant getting up early and going to the fish market. I’m going to be telling this from Sam’s point of view as it really wasn’t on my list of things to do in Tokyo. Since he had been to the market before, Sam used this opportunity to visit one of the infamous sushi restaurants, which uses fish fresh caught that morning. He had to queue up an hour in order to get a seat in the tiny restaurant but believes it was worth it. He ate a set sushi menu with fish that was so fresh you could see the pieces contracting as it rested on your plate as soon as the chef placed it there. Right at the end of his meal, Sam ordered the fatty tuna. At this request the chef got extremely excited and started pointing at a photo on the wall of a man standing next to a giant Tuna, not dissimilar to photos of people you see standing next to killed sharks. He ate that fat sushi piece, the fattest piece he has ever seen, with great satisfaction as it melted on his tongue. It was not a cheap meal, but the best one he had had in Japan. After an afternoon walking around the posh district of Ginza, Sam and I decided it was time to go to a themed restaurant. Arriving in Shinjuku, we walked to the Alice in Wonderland restaurant only to be turned away from being over booked. Dejectedly we went up a few floors to try a place there for dinner, and to our surprise it turned out to have a Samurai theme! Completely accidently we managed to secure a table and enjoyed our final night in Tokyo surrounded by dressed up samurai’s, swords and sat on tatami mats.

We sadly packed up our things and got ready for our journey across the Japanese alps the next day.

The Lincoln Squirrel has been assassinated! 

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Harajuku, Maiji Jingu, Yoyogi, Asakusa, Kiddy Land and Yakitori

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You got a what?!

Before arriving in Tokyo I had done some research into English speaking tattooist in Japan as Sam and I got it into our heads that this would be a perfect opportunity to get one, being that Japan was home to some phenomenal artists. Prior to meeting our artist in Roppongi I had sent him some ideas of what both I and Sam wanted and agreed to an appointment at his studio. This was going to be at 2pm so Sam and I made our way to the Maiji Shrine at Harajuku. The Maiji Jingu is a shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. With over 100 00 trees planted in the surrounding forest and giant Torii gates erected along the approach to the shrine, it gave the area an air of tranquility that was contrasting to the city outside. From the awe inspiring shrine we ventured to Takeshita (no joke) Street in Harajuku. Harajuku itself is known as the centre of Japanese youth culture and fashion, and this street in particular could be described as similar to Afflecks palace, if it were to open up onto a promenade. Every shop was an independent boutique offering a range of fashion items from cutesie Mori girl style, to Goth loli, cyber punk and the theatrical decora. Parallel to this street however, were the highstreet stores of H&M and TopShop and the expensive shops such as Louis Vitton and Gucci; offering a shopping district which had something for everyone. We entered into the 5 floor mega store of Kiddy Land. Each floor had a different theme. The top was Hello Kitty, then Star Wars combined with Lego, followed by the anime floor offering Dragon Ball and Pokemon merchandise, and of course a floor with Studio Ghibli related products. I managed to keep my purse in check but Sam couldn’t resist a small Dragon Ball figurine of Piccolo. 

It was time, the moment we had been waiting for all day. It was time for us to get our tattoos. Roppongi, in the past, was associated heavily with the Yakuza and used to be a place where you could go to have a “good time”, if you follow my meaning. However, after a cash injection in 2002, it has become more respectable and is now a great place to spend an evening offering cool nightclubs, bars and restaurants. We arrived in Roppongi and after a quick lunch, found the tattoo parlor. Our artist presented us with our designs. Sam was extremely happy with his but I was more skeptical of my own. I knew what I wanted, and had hand drawn the design myself, but the artist had presented my image in computer form done by photo shop. The image was cool but not my design, and along with the language barrier to limit discussion, I declined my tattoo (to my mum’s relief no doubt).  A few hours later however, Sam had his very own image permanently, and expertly, inscribed on his leg. 

The next morning we made our way to the district Asakusa, famous for the Senso-ji, a Buddhist temple, and one of Tokyo’s oldest. You could tell it was the most famous of Temples because of the fact you could barely move it was so packed. The walkway up the temple itself is lined with souvenir shops offering chop sticks, teapots, Japanese sandals and many more items at inflated prices. It was an impressive sized temple it has to be said, and was a perfect opportunity to get some Mr Button Japanese scenic photos in. Japan is probably the only place where I felt most comfortable getting a stuffed animal out and taking photographs of it, since it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see something weird for one, and two, he is an iconic Japanese character. It was such a lovely day, and we had done so much already in the 6 days we had been in Japan, that we decided to go to Yoyogi park for the afternoon. Walking into the park was not only a beautiful experience but also a rather strange one. Not only did we see people walking their dogs, quite ordinary obviously, but someone was also walking their chipmunk, and another walking their rabbit. Previously Sam admitted to seeing someone walking their monkey in the same park. I was hoping to see a monkey but alas, no luck. The evening we spent once again eating Yakitori and getting merry on delicious hot Sake.

Only two days of Tokyo left before we set off on our adventures of the Japanese Alps…

Stupid like a fox!

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Totoro Adventures

Waking up the next day was a little bit of a struggle since we may have overstretched ourselves. Despite me wanting to stay in bed, this was definitely not on the cards as there was sight seeing to be done! Rain was predicted so we decided to do the perfect rainy day activity; visit a museum. The Edo museum, based in Ryogoku, presented the history of the formation of Japan through exciting interactive and visual means. You walk in and are greeted with a giant replica bridge to cross, small models of the old castles of Edo (Japans former name), real sized living quarters for the ancient citizens and even a perfect replica of a Kabuki. It was an incredibly innovative way of learning, and told the story of how Japan came to be the influential power it is today. Its story was by no means an easy one, with numerous disasters afflicting the country along the way; such as disease, great fires, bombings and earthquakes. Despite Japan’s strife, it has rebuilt itself many times yet remained faithful to its old traditions. After having some tasty udon noodles at the museum restaurant, we headed back to Akihabara to witness this lively area of Tokyo in the day time. On this visit we focussed our attention on the merchandise aspect of Akihabara. Our adventures included sky high buildings selling any kind of toy model ranging from the modern anime to cartoons from the 60’s, thousands and thousands of gaming cards and of course multiple floors dedicated to manga comics. We were exploring one particular sky scraper from top to bottom and stumbled across what can only be described as the manga porn floor, also known as Hentai. I was the only woman on this floor and was absolutely horrified but fascinated by this phenomenon, especially when I came across the aisle which seemed to display anime children in compromising positions. If they weren’t children then they were meant to be small female adults with no adult female qualities, if you catch my drift. We swiftly moved on to the sex shop next door obviously, which offered 7 floors of weird and wonderful toys, 2 floors of which ban women from entering. Sam described it as “strange” witnessing libidolls (little dolls with vaginas), blow up anime characters and even diapers for women…I’ll let you make up your own mind about that one! I have been to Amsterdam but never seen anything like this shop! Following some arcade games to lighten our mood, we headed back to Ebisu for some maze Ramen and turned in for the night.

Our plan for the Monday was to go to the Studio Ghibli museum at around 2pm, so we had some time to explore in the morning. We lazily headed towards Shibuya to experience a cat café. I had no idea what to expect going into this place. I imagined sitting around a table with cats running and meowing everywhere, crawling all over my coffee. The morning turned out to be quite different. It was on the 7th floor of one of the many tall buildings in Shibuya, and upon entering you were asked to take off your shoes, wash your hands and keep to a whisper. All of the cats looked well groomed, healthy and fluffy as anything. They were extremely well behaved and just got on with their own business, exploring the café which was tailor made just for them. We were lucky enough to arrive just in time for feeding, so as all of the cats quietly ate side by side in unison, we and a few businessmen just watched and drank coffee.  I can see why these places are so popular with the Japanese. This place offered a quiet sanctuary from reality, providing fluffy cats to pet and smile at. I certainly felt happier in myself just by being there, and I am not an animal person. 

Following the cat café we made our way to Mitaka, to go to the Ghibli museum. For those who don’t know, Studio Ghibli have produced dozens of animated films from out of Japan which are beloved by locals and people all around the world; their most famous films include Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro. Such is the imagination of the creators of Ghibli, the museum was set out in a maze style fashion, and created the atmosphere of fantasy and play. The centrepiece of the building was a spiral staircase encased in a tall clock tower. Climbing it transported you into a childlike state since the enter and exit doors where just tall enough to fit a child, or small person like myself. They had created each room with a different theme, one of which had a cardboard labyrinth with art work on the walls, whilst another was dedicated to visually presenting the work space of the creators. On the top floor you could find yourself wondering into a room dedicated entirely to the cat bus from Totoro. It was basically a giant, fluffy cat, with 8 legs, shaped like a bus. Unfortunately it was for kids only. The roof housed the giant robot from Laputa, Castle in the Sky surrounded by a fairy tale garden.  It was an inspiring environment to be in.  We finished our trip to Mitaka by walking back to the station through the nearby park and was privy to witness a gentleman on his bicycle and a parrot on his shoulder. A modern age pirate.

The evening we once again spent in Ebizu, due to its abundance of trendy restaurants. This time we partook in Yakitori; BBQ’d meat, fish or vegetables on a stick served alongside an abundance of sake. Feeling slightly tipsy, we stumbled back to flat and passed out, ready for another Japanese adventure!

I hope I didn’t brain my damage.

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Only the first day!

After a brief stop over in Singapore, where I experienced the worst sleep of my life inside a pod, we boarded our flight to the very honorable Tokyo, Japan. It’s been a running joke over the past two years of knowing Sam, that whenever he mentions Japan, I ask him really sarcastically “oh, I never knew you went to Japan Sam?!”. Now that we were finally going together I was semi-nervous. What if I didn’t like the place? I’m not sure Sam could forgive me for such a sin! Tokyo, however, completely surpassed my expectations.

We were thrown into the Tokyo way of life quite instantly, as our first task was navigating Shinjuku Station to get the Yamanote line to Ebisu; where our airbnb was situated. Luckily Sam had been to Tokyo before because it is not an easy system to navigate, especially when you don’t read or speak Japanese and rarely you find someone fluent in English. To give you an idea of how busy Shinjuku station is I’ll compare it to Waterloo station in London. Not only is the Tokyo metro system bigger than London’s but Shinjuku alone experiences an influx of 3.5 million people a day, as opposed to the 89 million people Waterloo station experiences in a year. I will never again complain about the underground being busy after that first metro ride. I could not stop smiling at the fact that each person was propping up the person beside them, and wherever the train lurched, you all lurched in unison with it. The train was absolutely jam packed, even with them coming by every minute.  After ten minutes of being squished like sardines, we arrived in Ebisu, a very cool, vibrant area of Tokyo. When walking towards our apartment, I felt like I was walking the streets of Disney land. The area was so clean, organised yet so full of life it was palpable. We quickly settled into our little accommodation and went exploring the night life that Ebisu had to offer us. Every backstreet was packed with tiny restaurants offering as little as 4 seats gathered around a small kitchen, as well as countless places to drink or sing karaoke; and that was just the first floor. After spending just a few hours in Japan, I could not wait to wake up the next day to see more.

We started the next day early as Sam had a whole itinerary planned out for the day. With our Pasmo passes, the equivalent of an Oyster card, we boarded the Yamanote line to Shinjuku once again. Even waiting for the metro is exciting as each station has their own particular jingle, and it didn’t take us long to learn to whistle the Ebisu platform song. Once we got to Shinjuku, and explored the huge 7 floor shopping complex of the station, we began to walk towards the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which offers a free observation deck for an incredible birds-eye view of the City. It’s the little things of note that make Tokyo such a unique place; even the hazard cones in the road were Hello Kitty themed. On clear days you may be lucky enough to see Mt Fuji from the observation deck since Japan is so flat. We were not fortunate enough for that privilege, but the view was just as good without it. 

From the observation deck we headed towards the Shinjuku Gyoen National Gardens. We couldn’t believe our luck when we walked in to see that the Cherry Blossoms were still in bloom. It was a lovely sunny day, so a delightful stroll was had through the Japanese, French and finally English themed gardens. Amusingly, we were looking for the English themed garden for around half an hour until we realised that the big field in the middle of the park, were the English gardens. It was literally a huge, grassy lawn. What Japan must think of us! 

It was then time to board the metro again towards Shibuya, home to the famous Shibuya crossing. The crossing is basically a cross roads, in the middle of this hectic part of Town, where when the lights go red for cars, absolutely everyone will cross in all directions. It was brilliant to watch from the side lines. Our lunch was spent in a sushi restaurant where you order your food from an over head tablet, and it arrives to you via a shoot from some mysterious kitchen behind a wall.  “Only in Tokyo”, I found myself saying a lot. We knew we would be coming back to Shibuya in the distant future and Sam was absolutely desperate to show me the arcades so we left this part of town to go to Akihabara. Prior to coming to Tokyo, I had this vision in my head of what it would be like. Tall, towering buildings, neon lights, blaring Japanese music from nearby shops, anime and gaming are all what came to mind. Akihabara fulfilled that stereotype for me. You literally cannot describe this place without witnessing it for yourself. Towers and towers of arcades, gaming shops, electronics shops, anime shops, maid cafes, sex shops…this list goes on and on. I could not wait to explore this place, being the huge nerd that I am. Arcades over the world have been on the decrease since the invention of console gaming at home. You would not think that this was true here. Every arcade had at least 6 floors, all of which were filled with Japanese people ranging from the young to the respectable businessman. You have never seen such talent in your life. For each game, there would be someone who would be hitting perfect at incredible speed and accuracy. I would just stand and watch in awe before it officially became stalking. Sam and I would play the interactive dragon ball card fighting game, and I became attached to a piano playing game akin to style of guitar hero. I thought I was getting quite good until I witnessed locals playing it like concert pianists on speed.  We built up quite an appetite so ate in Akihabara. It was an incredibly long day so headed home at around midnight to start the adventure again the next day.

And this was only the first two days…

Mmm steamed clams

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Saigon, Chu Chi tunnels and the Mekong Delta

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Saigon, hell of a place

Our journey to Saigon was a fairly interesting one. We hadn’t realized why our tickets were so cheap until we boarded the train, then had to depart the train…get a bus…then board another train to get to Saigon. That and the fact that we were the only non Vietnamese people on the overnight train. Needless to say we arrived in Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh depending on where you are from, quite tired. We settled into our homestay and welcomed the aircon and free coffee with open arms. Our accommodation was located down the back alley of what would probably be best described as the backpacker district. It seemed to be catered directly towards tourists, with touts, travel shops and cheap restaurants at every turn. Our landlady was kind enough to inform us of the common scams in Saigon such as taxi cabs increasing the meter by 10 fold, bleaching the outside of coconuts to make them look fresh and of course the pick pockets in the neighborhood.  After a brief rest we headed out in to the blistering heat. 38 degrees of Vietnam’s finest weather was quite the feat to walk around in. We managed, but our clothes probably wouldn’t say the same. Exploring the city you would have thought that Saigon was the Capital of Vietnam. It very much had a cosmopolitan feel about it with towering buildings, large streets, upscale shopping and numerous restaurants. It just felt that it had more of a commanding, modern presence than the actual Capital of Hanoi. Overall, Vietnam created the impression that the further South you travelled, the more developed it became. 

Our first point of call was Nguyen Hue Street which housed City Hall. The street was basically a great big walk way that led up to the building, and along the way there were posters describing the City in its entirety. I couldn’t help but draw distinctions between the city and Hunger Games when I found out that it was divided up into districts. They even had separate sporting teams which would compete with one another!  Our next venture was the Notre-Dame Basilica of Saigon. Built in the 1880s by French colonists, it could be said that it resembled the little brother of Notre Dame de Paris.  After a quick picture we continued on our adventure towards the War Memorial Museum. I wont describe the museum in full but it painted a harrowing picture of the American War on Vietnam, mainly through the medium of photography. It’s one thing to read about something, but to see the direct consequences of the devastation, especially of Agent Orange, was another thing entirely. Let’s just say, I wouldn’t want to be an American citizen in that museum!

We knew we only had a limited amount of time left in Vietnam and the two main things we wanted to do in Saigon was the Mekong Delta and the Chu Chi tunnels. So the following day we departed, to Sam’s glee, on our tour of the Mekong Delta. The beginning of the day highlighted to me how Communist a country Vietnam is, where everybody has a job. The bus station was approximately a 3 minute walk down the road, however, we and several others had to walk in the opposite direction to board a bus…to take us to the bus station. Silliness aside we were on our way to the Mekong Delta with Mr Dong (oh yes) as our guide. He explained to us on our ride that 10 million people lived in and around Saigon, 6 million of which own a moped! No wonder people wear masks. The first stop on our tour was at a bee keeping farm, which I honestly thought was pretty random considering the reason for all of us being there. Things only got stranger when he had us all sit down and we were treated to some traditional Vietnamese folk instrumentals and singing. I felt like I feel when I listen to really traditional Irish folk; I want to like it, but it’s just too much, a bit too ‘trad’. They were however, extremely talented in their respective instruments, but I wouldn’t buy the CD. Finally, we were ready to board our little boat along the Mekong. It was a beautiful ride, very peaceful and full of rich Vietnamese jungle along the banks of the river. Overall, it was an OK tour, but not one I specifically bowled over by, mainly because of all the silliness! 

Our next day was much more successful. The highlight of the Chu Chi tunnels was by far the tour guide. We had gone with a cheaper deal (you could tell by all the 19 year old travellers) and you could see that Mr Lun just didn’t give a shit anymore. He must have been high on something with the outlandish statements he was coming out with. He would keep saying how much he loved rocked music and marijuana, and broke into The Beatles and Scorpion ballads at random intervals; which I joined in on of course. There was a moment when one of our dread-locked, white tourists took his shirt off in the heat, and Mr Lun warned him that lady boys would be after him if he didn’t put his shirt back on. I instantly liked Mr Lun. On a serious note, the Chu Chi tunnels gave us an excellent insight in to the Guerrilla warfare which helped towards the Vietcong winning the war. They built a whole underground system, 3 layers deep, over the years that America was there. If the Americans, or sewer rats as the Vietcong called them, chased them into the tunnels, they were sure to get lost. Either that or be caught in one of their booby taps. We even got the opportunity to explore one of the tunnels. Hilariously I could stand my legs up straight if i folded into a flat back, where as Sam was feeling the pain in his thighs for several days afterwards. That evening we went for drinks on the dodgier side of the backpacker strip and settled in a bar with free pool. Unbeknownst to me we were also in a bar full of Vietnamese prostitutes.  When a guy rubbed Sam’s shoulders and asked if he wanted a massage, I thought to myself “but there isn’t a massage parlor around here?”, then Sam pointed out the truth behind his statement…after refusing the offer of course. 

So there comes the end of our time in Vietnam, with prostitutes. I really enjoyed Vietnam as a whole but after 3 weeks, I was ready to move on to cooler climates. Until next time where I will be talking about Tokyo, and believe me, it’s a corker of a place.

Me fail English? That’s unpossible!

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Nha Trang

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Meh Trang

I think it’s important to try everything in life at least once, then you can make up your mind and never try it again. This especially ran true in the case of catching the overnight bus to Nha Trang. Try it once and never try it again! Before boarding the bus I had heard some horror stories from some traveller girls we met in Hoi An. “My bus had live chickens on it” one girl complained “yeah, and the bus locked the loo, so I had to hold my piss in for 4 hours!”. You can imagine my sheer horror at the thought of holding in a wee for four hours. So in preparation, I once again dehydrated myself and only took a small bottle of water on board with me. We hopped on the bus and were ushered to the back, in a little cove with three sleeper beds next to each other. It was actually quite cosy, and I was in the middle of Sam and this other random traveller girl whose legs were twice as long as mine. I offered her the middle seat so she could stretch her legs but she flat out refused out of politeness and remained in the foetal position the whole time. Luckily there were no chickens on board and the driver had unlocked the toilet, so I immediately downed all my water in one, knowing my bladder was safe. Overall it was an ok journey, but not one I wish to repeat in any lifetime. 

I was very fortunate in that my good friend Ben’s girlfriend is Vietnamese, and her dad owns several apartments throughout Vietnam including Nha Trang. Steve was his name and he asked us to meet him at a certain address by the beach. We got a bit lost trying to find the place so I wondered into a 5 star hotel to ask where this place was, to which the receptionist replied “why, it’s right here!”. We could not believe it, we were staying in a 5 star apartment with a view overlooking the sea, for free! Now Nha Trang is a strange place in that it seems to be a holiday destination for Russian people. Due to this the place has turned into something attune to Malaga for Russians. It has a main strip which is along the beach front and is home to several restaurants, shopping complexes and travel shops with both Russian and Vietnamese speaking people. 

Our days were spent relaxing by the beach almost every day. It was a lovely contrast to the beaches in Gili Air, since there was an actual breeze here (but not as strong as Hoi An thank God!), meaning we could sunbathe without feeling baked. It also meant that I could go back to my favourite past time of people watching. What I noticed most was that each huge Russian man had the accompaniment of a tiny framed Russian wife or girlfriend…or mistress! There were also the usual suspects of people placing themselves in ridiculous upright positions to try and get the best tan possible. I’m not joking, one girl contorted herself so that some of her body was in the shade, where as other parts were in the sunlight. All whilst standing up. The best part about the beach however, were the waves. I felt that I was thrown back to my childhood every time a wave came in and we had to try and jump above them. Sam found it incredibly hilarious to watch me mistime each of my jumps and get slapped in the face with a wave. I still maintain it was my height disadvantage.

We spent most evenings eating and chilling out, but one night we decided to venture out of our comfort zone and go to one of the blaring rooftops bars we kept hearing from our apartment. So we went up to the top floor of one of the nearby hotels, and were met with instant loud, inane electronic/house music. I could not stop laughing because it was just so ridiculous. This louder than life music was playing through the sound system, yet no one was dancing or even talking to each other. The drinks were OK and luckily free, plus the view was beautiful. We quickly downed our drinks and moved on to the next rooftop bar which was much more down to earth, so to speak. It was happy hour so Sam and I got merry on four cocktails, then stumbled home in a stupor. On our way home we witnessed an altercation between a Russian and a Vietnamese guy, in which the Russian was calling the other a ‘motherfucker’ in a thick accent. Pleasant guy.

We had read that Nha Trang was a great place to go to some mud baths. So we ventured out of town to a resort which had various hot springs, mud baths and fake waterfalls. We traded in our tickets and entered in to our very own mudbath in the outdoors. It was exactly how I imagine entering into a warm bath of chocolate milk would be like. We had a good soak for around half an hour then used some of the various other facilities in the resort. We witnessed some grade A photo action of a mother and daughter climbing onto a big rock in the centre of one of the pools, and taking photos of one another as if each person was a mermaid atop a rock. People just can’t get enough of the photos of themselves here! 

So I’m afraid this a bit of a short one. Nha Trang wasn’t my favourite of destinations as it felt like I wasn’t in Vietnam at all anymore. I was extremely grateful for Steve and his incredible apartment. In retrospect it was a much needed 4 day break of doing absolutely nothing, in preparation for our time in Saigon and Japan. Onward and upwards, we boarded our last sleeper train in Vietnam to arrive in Saigon in the early hours….but that’s for next time. 

 life is just one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead.

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Hoi An and Mr Button at Marble Mountain

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Suit Up

We resume our adventures of Sam and Clo back in Hue, where we arranged the bus to get to Hoi An. We had two choices: 1) a $5 bus straight to Hoi An, no funny business or 2) stop off at three places along the way, including Marble Mountain for $12. Naturally we opted for the second option (you can probably tell who twisted whose arm in that decision). We were promised in our package deal a beach visit along the way which sounded quite promising. In reality, all this involved was a 15 minute pitstop.  5 minutes was taken up getting to the beach, followed by us thinking to ourselves “oh look, a beach”, then hopping back on the bus. The second stop was a little more interesting as it involved getting to walk around an old American bunker that had been blown apart by bombings. It even had old (or new) bullet holes embedded into the outer walls. I say it was only a little more interesting, as with most common tours, every single coach was also stopping here meaning the place was teaming with tourists climbing over absolutely everything. Our final stop saved the day as we got the opportunity to climb Marble Mountain. Marble Mountain is a cluster of 5 marble and limestone Mountains named after the 5 elements, and each has numerous caves with Buddhist temples hidden within. As well as the beautiful Buddhist sanctuaries, the view from the top of the Mountain was breathtaking. Well worth all the stairs it took to get to the top! At last we finally arrived in Hoi An, and we were thankful that at least the bus dropped us off at our accommodation! We were staying at a really lovely guesthouse just outside of town run by a happy, friendly family with free breakfast and bike rentals. First thing was first, and that was to get fitted in a local tailor’s (one of 300 in Hoi An!) for some cheap, tailor made, child sized clothes. Sam was even talked into getting a suit made, since the last one he owned he grew out of two years prior. After being thoroughly measured, and I mean thoroughly, we went to a tasty Indian vegan restaurant and turned in for the night.

Following our delightful breakfast we decided to make use of the free bikes and ride around the town and down towards Cam Kim island which is just across the river from Hoi An. We got to the dock with bruised bottoms, and managed to haggle our way onto a private boat across the river, for a quarter of the price. I think it does help being a girl sometimes! Arriving on the island the boat guy told us to turn left at the end of the road and just keep going. We took his advice a little too literally as our path began to turn into a field. When we were literally carrying our bikes over a farmers land I thought we may be lost, but the farmer kept beckoning us through like this was perfectly normal. Once we reached the other side however, we were met with an impassable river and I thought the farmer is probably laughing silently to himself right now thinking, “bloody tourists”. This secluded spot was quite beautiful however, so I was actually happy to get lost in and amongst the fields and rivers of this island. Thank goodness for GPS because we managed to navigate the rest of the island relatively well, only getting lost a few times. Along the way we stopped at what we thought was a cafe but in retrospect was probably just someone’s place of work! He gave us water anyway and asked to have a picture with me. God knows why, I was a sweaty mess! I really enjoyed cycling around this Island, it gave me the impression that this was what Vietnam used to be like all over the country, with its small, simple Villages, acres of countryside and wading rivers. It was almost as if tourism had yet to pollute this part of the Country. An hour passed, and realising we had no suncream in the intense heat of the day, we decided to cycle back to the same dock we got dropped off. Our ride back was a little more exciting as we haggled our way onto a boat with about 30 bicycles on it for half the price we paid to get there! We then cycled around the old town and had coffee in a cafe which was run entirely by people who are deaf.  The cafe itself had an extremely peaceful atmosphere and you communicated with the staff through placards on the table. The coffee wasn’t half bad either! 

Now remember me telling you about mine and Sam’s tour disagreements? Well, in my pure rebellion I opted out of the next tour. It involved getting up at half 4 to go to My Son; a 4th century Hindu temple. He enjoyed the trip but I’m pretty sure I enjoyed my lie in more. Our third day in Hoi An was really chilled out as we took our bruised bums to the beach on our bikes. Now to me, a beach is beach at the end of the day. It can be as beautiful as anything, but you’ll still get sand absolutely everywhere. Hoi An beach took this to a whole new level! The winds were so strong, I felt like I was getting whipped in the face with sand every time I turned by face to the wind. It was just absolutely everywhere! So instead of laying down, I just walked around, listened to music and had a little dance on the sand in my own world. Later that day we went back to the Tailors for my final fittings and I was really happy with all my clothes I got made. Sam still needed his suit adjusting so we planned to come back on our last day. Risky business this living life on the edge malarkey!

Unfortunately, like everywhere, we got to our last day.  I absolutely loved Hoi An with its open streets, easy going lifestyle and flat roads built for cycling on. On this last day, we discovered if you cycle in pretty much any direction for around 10minutes, you will find yourself in this big, remarkable, endless countryside where you can see for miles...and miles and miiiiiles (The Who reference there). We bounded along the country roads and explored a large garden full of farmers hard at work attending their crops of various fruits and growing vegetables. During our ride, I was stopped abruptly on the side of the road by an image of a little boy falling off his bike, surrounded by his family standing still. I couldn’t understand why no one was panicking! I asked the mother if everything was ok, to which she replied “oh yes, he just doesn’t want to cycle anymore”. It was the world’s most dramatic tantrum. We finished our ride at the Tailors. Luckily everything fit like a dream and we sent our goods back home. We then said our farewells to the family at the guesthouse. Their 3 year old son was especially sad to see us go, as he had, like many others, grown rather attached to Mr Button whom I had shown him to. I was half worried he wouldn’t give him back to me! So off we went onto the night bus to Nha Trang. A story for another time.

Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I’m not listening. 

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Some from Hue

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Hugh

We arrived in Hue (pronounced H-weh, not Hugh which Sam kept forgetting!), in the wee hours of the morning after a 12 hour overnight train from Hanoi. The legendary Sam from Hanoi had kindly got Sam and I leaving gifts of small porcelain Japanese women which was odd, but very sweet and thoughtful. We were sad to say goodbye but ready to move on down the coast of Vietnam to warmer climates. Hue, as the former imperial capital of Vietnam, was unfortunately bombed heavily throughout the years by both the French and subsequently the USA, but it is steeped in a rich, royal history. It is the burial place of former Kings, thus houses impressive tombs and the old Citadel where the Royal Family, along with their Mandarin, used to live. The city itself reminded me a of grittier, less developed version of Los Angeles, with its wide streets, concentrated areas of retail or restaurants, followed by stretches of nothingness. It felt like compared to Hanoi, it had more room to breath, expand and grow. This could perhaps be due to the past bombings and the need for development, along with the US influence during the war, making it feel quite Amerocanised. Overall it was less hectic and way more relaxed than Hanoi, so we enjoyed walking around the city taking everything in on the first day. There is much less to be interested by, but the change of pace was welcoming. I also didn’t fear for my life quite as much as in Hanoi!

We only really had one full day in Hue to explore everything so Sam suggested doing a tour from our hotel we were staying with. There are luckily only a few things that Sam and I have had differing opinions on during this trip, and one of them happens to be doing tours. I’m not entirely sure why I dislike going on tours so much. Maybe it’s the fact that I feel like I’m paying for something that I can do on my own, or perhaps I just don’t like doing what I’m told! I just think that it is quite fun and interesting to make your own way to places, and see things in your own time. I suggested in contrast to rent bicycles, go to the Citadel first then cycle the 2 hours to the Minh Mang tomb, cycle back and maybe hit the pagoda near by if we weren’t dead from heat exhaustion by then. Logical, no? Sam countered with the sensible; or we could get on a tour bus and see three tombs, a kung fu show, the old citadel, the pagoda and finally a trip down the Perfume River. I conceded, my pride a little hurt, but resolved to ‘try’ and enjoy the tour all the same. The tour actually turned out to be completely worth it, aside from the irritating tourists that you have to travel with on the way. One of whom was this obnoxious American woman who insisted on asking questions at any given opportunity, and reacting to the tour guides information with incessant 'oh yeah’, 'mhmm’, 'of course’, like he was talking directly to her instead of a whole group. I resisted the urge to punch her, and counted to ten instead. The tombs housed previous Kings of Vietnam, and were surrounded by huge acres of garden, water and statues. They were impressive, beautiful and completely pointless, since it was such an expensive and time consuming task to house only one grave. One King in particular, Khal Dihn, who reined while the French were in power, raised the people’s taxes by 30% just to complete his tomb. Still, interesting architecture and history to witness years on. The Old Citadel was just as impressive. My initial impressions from the outside, as I had no idea what to expect within, was that this was going to be just like going to York. A bussling city surrounded by walls. How wrong I was! Serves me right for not reading up on things prior to visiting them. The Old Citadel is the preserved foundations of the former Kings Palace, aswell as where citizens lived within its walls. Unfortunately, once again due to the bombings of the French looking for Vietminh, and the US looking for Vietcong, there are only really ruins left. However, the walls surrounding the Citadel still stand strong. While we were walking around these huge grounds, we witnessed some traditional Chinese influenced Vietnamese music. Sam and I got quite into it and started doing the robot to amuse ourselves, despite passers by being overtly confused by the whole thing. The highlight of the trip for me was by far the Kung Fu show. We saw Kung fu battles between two fighter’s with weapons, mock fighting to the death. A guy put a spear to his neck, leant on it so it bent, while another guy broke a cinderblock on his back with a jackhammer. Finally, my favourite, a fighter broke a stack of tiles in half with one blow. Seeing these dedicated men, at their physical peak, performing was unlike anything I’ve seen before. It was seriously impressive! So despite my grievances about tours, it turned out to be worth it… But don’t tell Sam he was right! We came to the end of our short trip to Hue and were ready to take the bus to Hoi An the next day. Until next time!

You’ll have to speak up, I’m wearing a towel.

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Hanoi